(NewsWorthy.news) – The FBI has drawn attention to its monitoring of social media commentary after agents told a Muslim woman in Stillwater, Oklahoma that agents visited people “all day, every day” to discuss their activity on social media. The video of the incident went viral on X after it was shared by her lawyer Hassan Shibly.
In the video Rolla Abdeljawad refused to discuss her posts without a lawyer and would not let the agents inside her home. The two agents repeatedly refused to identify themselves. When she confronted the agents about showing up at her home to discuss her freedom of speech that she could not be arrested for, Abdeljawad was told by the agents that such visits were common practice.
At the end of her video, Abdeljawad commented “this is America”. She confirmed with local police after the event that the visitors were indeed FBI agents. Abdeljawad was told by the agents that Facebook had handed them screenshots of her posts, which are publicly viewable and anti-Zionist in nature. The incident highlights the challenges posed by assessing commentary around the Gaza conflict and what constitutes extremist rhetoric or glorification of Hamas, which the U.S. still recognizes as a terrorist group.
Abdeljawad’s posts were reportedly not of a threatening nature, however, commenting on Israel exploiting Ramadan in the ongoing war in the region and referring to the Israeli regime as “Israhelli terrorist filth”. It is unclear which posts specifically concerned the FBI agents. She warned in one post on the March 24 that the American “police state” was most likely monitoring pro-Palestinian commentary on social media accounts, at mosques and political events, and in private messages and emails.
The actions of the agents and their claims that such measures were standard procedure raised broader concerns about the bureau’s monitoring of social media commentary in general. Meta, Facebook’s owner, has a policy to provide data to law enforcement if there is immediate risk to a child or risk of injury or death to another person. Abdeljawad’s attorney, however, does not believe that Facebook sent the posts to the FBI. Abdeljawad’s lawyer praised her handling of the situation but stressed she did not need to leave her house and was under no obligation to speak to the agents at all without a lawyer. The FBI denied violating the woman’s rights.
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